Oil leaks into waters off S'pore from Shell land-based pipeline

An oil leak in the pre-dawn hours of Oct 20 from a Shell pipeline has affected waters off Singapore, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

- Fatimah Mujibah

The oil started leaking at around 5.30am from a land-based pipeline belonging to the British petrochemical company between Bukom Island and Bukom Kecil, the authority said in a statement the same day.

MPA was alerted to the incident more than seven hours later at about 1pm. The leak was stopped at about 3pm, a Shell spokesperson said separately.

Shell said the oil "spilt into a holding area but some overflowed" into the water channel between Bukom Island and Bukom Kecil, adding that it is still assessing the total volume spilt.

There were no new oil sightings as at 6pm, MPA added.